CBA Road Trip: Weyerbacher Brewery

After two days of touring breweries my brother and I decided not to head down south to North Carolina and to stay in the North East. When we were planning our trip Weyerbacher Brewery was the 1st brewery we wanted to visit but due to us working with the schedules of the breweries we’d be visiting Weyerbacher was replaced by Troegs as the first brewery of the trip. On Tuesday I called up Chris Wilson, Weyerbacher’s head brewer who I had been in touch with while planning the road trip and asked if we could come on Wednesday and he said it would be ok.

We had a great time there watching a batch of their famous Double Simcoe being brewed, walking through the brewery, and sampling some great beers.

Enjoy the footage!

After a fun and informative tour and beer tasting I decided to interview Chris in order to get some background information on the brewery and a feel for his passion for brewing craft beer. Beyond asking him questions which I typically of craft brewers, I asked him about one thing I found unique while on the tour i.e. his choice to brew with English pale malt over the more widely used American two-row pale malt as his primary base malt (watch the interview for his answer).
Overall, Chris showed my brother and I a great time and it was great to get to know the brewer of some of my favorite craft beers.
If you’re ever in the Easton, PA area on a Saturday, Weyerbacher is open for tour and tastings from 12pm – 3PM
Check out the interview and let me know what you think. Cheers!

August 31, 2010
Categories: Craft Beer Advocacy, Craft Brewer Interviews, Craft Brewery Road Trip 2010 . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: barrybrew . Comments: Leave a Comment

Brewer Interview: Jim Caruso, CEO of Flying Dog Brewery

After visiting Flying Dog Brewery on my road trip I was excited to go to an event at Rattle n Hum which was taking place a week to the day of my visit to the brewery. While there I took Flying Dog’s CEO Jim Caruso outside to get some insider info on his successful brewery. Enjoy!!

August 27, 2010
Categories: Craft Brewer Interviews, NYC Beer Scene . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: barrybrew . Comments: Leave a Comment

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter, posted with vodpod

August 27, 2010
Categories: Uncategorized . . Author: barrybrew . Comments: Leave a Comment

Get Real NY: Craft Beer & Food Festival

On Monday August 16 I sat down with Patrick Donagher (Get Real NY founder, Rattle n Hum owner)  and Alex Hall (Get Real NY Cellarman, NY cask ale expert) to chat about Get Real NY, a cask ale and food festival set to take place in NYC on September 25 and 26, 2010.

Click the logo below for more info. on the festival and to order tickets:

August 25, 2010
Categories: Craft Beer Advocacy, NYC Beer Scene . Tags: , , , , . Author: barrybrew . Comments: Leave a Comment

CBA Road Trip: Flying Dog Brewery Tour

After an awesome time at Dogfish Head’s brewery and brewpub my brother and I head to Frederick, Maryland to meet up with Matt Brophy, Senior VP of Brewing Operations at Flying Dog Brewery. Luckily, upon arriving the brewers were in the middle of brewing a batch of Doggie Style Pale Ale and after going up on the brew deck I got to watch one of the brewers loading in bags of crystal malt (120L) into the hopper which brings the malt up to the mill where it is cracked over and then dropped into the mash tun. Upon the brewers suggestion I tasted some of the crystal malt in order to get a sense of what flavors it can potentially contribute to beers. Amongst the many great experiences of my time at flying dog was getting to try two versions of barrel aged Gonzo Imperial Porter straight from their barrels. First we tried bourbon barrel aged Gonzo, which tasted great. Then we tasted Gonzo that is being aged with brettanomyces  yeast and to my surprise the wild yeast character complemented the beer quite well. Enjoy the video and if you have yet to try Flying Dog’s great beers I’d definitely recommend picking some up. Cheers!

August 25, 2010
Categories: Craft Beer Advocacy . Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Author: barrybrew . Comments: Leave a Comment

Dogfish Head Theobroma

Having enjoyed this beer on tap at the brewery I bought a bottle to review. When reading the bottle one may assume that the beer will be a dark brown color because cocoa nibs and powder were added to the beer. However, upon pouring the beer you’ll see that it’s a honey-orange color due to the use of ground-annato which is used to give certain foods a yellowish orange color. Check out the review for my thoughts on the beer.

From Dogfish Head’s website:

This beer is based on chemical analysis of pottery fragments found in Honduras which revealed the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink used by early civilizations to toast special occasions. The discovery of this beverage pushed back the earliest use of cocoa for human consumption more than 500 years to 1200 BC. As per the analysis, Dogfish Head’s Theobroma (translated into ‘food of the gods’) is brewed with Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs (from our friends at Askinosie Chocolate), honey, chilies, and annatto (fragrant tree seeds). It’s light in color – not what you expect with your typical chocolate beer. Not that you’d be surpised that we’d do something unexpected with this beer!This beer is part of our Ancient Ales series – along with Midas Touch, Chateau Jiahu, and other – step back in time and enjoy some Theobroma.


August 20, 2010
Categories: Chile Beer . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: barrybrew . Comments: Leave a Comment

Craft Brew Advocate Road Trip: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

As the first stop road trip day two my brother and I arrived at Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton, Delaware) at around 10:15AM, and after taking a peek around the tasting room and gift shop we were met by Claus Hagelman, Dogfish Head’s national accounts manager a.k.a our tour guide. As Claus took my brother and I around the brewery I was impressed my just how much he knew about the brewery and was in touch with its philosophy. With an impressive 100 barrel brew house, it was great to see the affect of Dogfish Head’s motto  ”off centered ales for off centered people” on every vessel. Also, my brother and I got lucky to get a minute to chat with Sam Calagione who’s been in and out of the brewery filming for a new TV show called Brewed and spreading the messages of craft beer.

After finishing up the brewery tour, sampling some beers, and buying some stuff at the gift, my brother and I headed to Dogfish Head’s Rehoboth Beach brewpub / distillery. There we got a tour of the distillery and brew house and sat down at the bar for some beers and food.

August 18, 2010
Categories: Craft Beer Advocacy, Saison/Farmhouse Ale . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: barrybrew . Comments: 1 Comment

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace

Having enjoyed Brooklyn Brewery’s Sorachi Ace when it first came out as a tap only Brewmastasters Reserve beer. I was excited when I heard that it was coming out in 750ml bottles. After trying the bottled version a couple times and seeing it still in NYC stores I felt it was time to finally review it. With the lemony aroma and flavor from the sorachi ace hops and the spiciness from the belgian yeast this beer is a unique and tasty example of the saison / farmhouse ale style. If you have yet to try it I’d definitely try getting your hands on a bottle. Cheers!

August 15, 2010
Categories: Saison/Farmhouse Ale . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: barrybrew . Comments: Leave a Comment

Craft Brew Advocate Road Trip: Victory Brewery

After Troegs my next stop was a no brainer. Having interviewed Bill Covaleski of Victory Brewery twice in New York City I wanted to see where all of his great beers are brewed. Compared to Troegs Brewery, Victory is pretty darn big. With a 100 barrel (31 gallon / barrel) brewing system and a yearly output potential of 60,000 barrels the layout of the brewery was quite impressive. In addition two days after I was there 4 new 400 barrel fermenters were installed, increasing Victory’s  output potential to between 100,000 and 110,000 barrels. What made the tour extra special was that both the bottlnig line and brew kettle were in full swing when we were there. Hop Devil IPA was being bottled and Prima Pils was being brewed. As a treat the person showing us around (Berry Woodrow, administrative assistant) grabbed a couple bottles off the line for my brother and I to drink as we walked through out  the brewery.  Once we finished the tour my brother and I  sat down to sample some beers including some brew pub exclusive beers. Check out the video for the footage! Enjoy!
Thanks to:
Bill Covaleski
Sean McCain
Berry Woodrow
The staff of Victory Brewery

August 12, 2010
Categories: Craft Beer Advocacy . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Author: barrybrew . Comments: Leave a Comment

CBA Road Trip: Troegs Brewery

While putting together the plans for my east coast craft brewery road trip I knew I wanted to visit some Pennsylvania breweries. However, since I was asking the breweries I’d be visiting to show me around on days when tours aren’t usually given, I had to work my plans around their schedules. As such, plans for day one of my road trip put Troegs Brewery (Harrisburg, PA) as my first stop. Before starting the tour I got to sample a few beers and chat it up with the tasting room bartender and some locals who stopped by for a growler and or some bottles of Troegs beer to take home.

After an informative and fun tour I was fortunate to meet and interview Chris Trogner, co-founder and owner of Troegs Brewery. In the interview I asked some basic questions about the brewery ranging from its brewing philosophy to how far its distribution reaches. In addition, with its plans to move to Hershey, PA in the next year or so, I asked Chris about what is going to make the new brewery special and how it will help further the growth of the Troegs line craft beers.

Before leaving the brewery to head to my next stop, my brother and I sat down for a pint and I decided to film a quick review of a limited release beer that was on tap in the tasting room called Drafting Room Anniversary Ale, which consisted of Troegs’ famous Nugget Nectar (season imperial red ale) fermented with a belgian yeast strain. Boy was it delicious!

Stayed tuned for footage from the five other breweries that my brother and I visited… Cheers!

August 10, 2010
Categories: Craft Beer Advocacy, Craft Brewer Interviews, Imperial Red Ale . . Author: barrybrew . Comments: Leave a Comment

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